It’s been so busy today that I forgot to eat. This really has gotten me to think about having healthy snack, ready to eat at a moments notice. And I’m not talking apples and carrot, which I do have, but something fun for my mouth. Which made me think of a conversation I had earlier in the day with a customer. She has young, school age children who are feeling better, since they have been taking our Propolis oil. But the girls are not crazy about the taste of Olive oil and Propolis. I don’t blame them. It’s not a taste that I crave either:) But like them, I do take it every day! So I suggested she add the Propolis oil in a salad and if she bought some beebread she could add that t0 the girls morning oatmeal or in a yummy smoothie. Propolis tincture can be added to any fruit drinks. Added it to anything if you don’t want to take it straight down your throat. She laughed and asked for some recipes.

First off…

If you don’t know what Propolis is, it’s a resin that the Honeybee gather from tops of trees bud and the bark. They mix it with their enzymes and then they plaster the whole inside of the hive.

It helps insulate the hive, it helps clean the hive and it protects the hive from bacteria and viruses. This same Propolis that helps fight sickness in the hive, will also protect us from the the same viruses and bacteria floating and hanging about us. Propolis icontains flavonoids that are anti viral, anti bacterial, anti microbial, anti fungal and an anti-inflammatory Propolis can be a great dietary supplement to enhance your overall health and boost immunity.

BeeBread is Pollen and Honey mixed together. BeeBread is filled with everything you need to energize your day, workout or recovery. It is loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and iron that will benefit people of all ages and boost the immune system.

Flying about from flower to flower, bees collect pollen in the pollen baskets on their legs and carry it back to the hive. In the hive, pollen is used as a protein source necessary during brood-rearing. The pollen pellets and honey are combined and ferment until the the hard shell of the pollen is dissolve. At that time the bee will feast on it and feed it to their grwoing young.

So back to my phone conversation and my hungry stomach. How can you get Propolis and BeeBread

into you daily route? Here are a three recipes!

Stay Healthy with the Power of BEES

Basil Vinaigrette Dressing

Original recipe makes 1 -1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS

1 cupolive oil

1/2- 1 tsp of BEEpothecaryPropolis Oil

1/3 cupapple cider vinegar

1/4 cupBEEpothecary wildflower honey

3 tablespoonschopped fresh basiL

2 clovesgarlic, minced

PREPARATION

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, basil, and garlic. Pour over or toss with your favorite salad to serve

Pineapple Coconut Bites

INGREDIENTS

Makes: About 20 cookies

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

INGREDIENTS

FILLING

1 1/4 cups canned crushed pineapple, slightly drained

1 tablespoon BEEpothecary honey

1 tablespoon cornstarch

DOUGH

1/2 cup almonds

6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted cold butter

3 tablespoons Propolis Coconut oil or Propolis Olive oil

2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

To prepare filling: Spoon pineapple into a small saucepan with honey and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Let cool.

To prepare dough: Meanwhile, process almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add confectioners’ sugar; process to combine. Add whole-wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour; process to combine. Drop butter by the tablespoon through the feed tube, processing briefly after each addition. Add oil and pulse once or twice. Add coconut, cornstarch, salt and vanilla and process just until the mixture resembles crumbly, fine meal, but will hold together if pressed.

Reserve a scant 1/2 cup of tart dough to use as crumbled topping.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line mini muffin pans with 20 paper cups.

Drop a scant tablespoon of dough into each paper cup. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the cup, making a well in the center, to form a miniature crust. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the pineapple filling into each crust and top each with some of the reserved crumbs.

Bake until the topping is golden brown and the crust is cooked through (watch carefully toward the end and move the pan to the bottom rack if the top begins to brown before the bottom crust is done), 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans.

Clover, Bee, and Revery

Reverie (revery) –(n.) state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea

Two weeks ago, Laurie and I mixed up batches of propolis we had harvested from our hives with olive oil and with (cheap) vodka. (See previous entry – How We make Propolis Oil and Tincture) After letting our propolis oil infusion and alcohol tincture sit for 2 weeks, it was ready to bottle up for use. We strained it through a coffee filter and used a tiny funnel to put it into 1 ounce dropper bottles.

Propolis tincture after 2 weeks of infusing in alcohol (yellow liquid), strained, then poured into bottles.

Now our propolis was ready to use for its health and soothing benefits!

We’ve done lots of research about propolis and are amazed at what we found, so we started making our own oil infusions and alcohol tinctures to try for our own health purposes. Let me tell you, after trying this stuff out for a year, WE ARE BELIEVERS!!

Here are some ways we and our friends and family have been using it. We have found that we like both the oil and the alcohol based propolis tincture, each for different applications.

The first thing I found successful was using propolis oil on my mouth canker sores. For some reason, I have a mouthful of sores in the winter that are painful and annoying. Propolis takes the pain away instantly and helps them clear up in just a few days. This is one of the documented, proven uses for propolis cited on the National Institute of Health’s website. It is great for mouth sores and gum infections. You can use the oil or tincture straight, or mix with water and use as a mouthwash/gargle. You can even buy propolis toothpaste at Trader Joe’s!

We use the tincture in a small spray bottle and spray it in our throats for a dry, irritated throat. It has a pain deadening effect, and soothes and moisturizes an irritated throat. Propolis is a good source of flavonoids which are documented to be antifungal, antiviral, antibiotic, and antimicrobial. For research documenting this, go to the National Institutes of Health website – nih.gov – and search “propolis”.

raw propolis shavings

Propolis oil infusion is great used topically on cuts, rashes, burns, sores, etc . The oil is better for these, since the alcohol tincture would burn! We also mix it in with hand lotion to use on dry chapped hands or those painful winter-split finger tips. I use the alcohol tincture on blemishes, since I have oily skin and don’t want to add more oil! Laurie’s 20 something daughter swears by propolis for her face breakouts.

Last summer, my doubting, adult son had an another ear infection that have plagued him since he was little. I took him some propolis oil, warmed it up under hot water from the faucet, and put 3-5 drops in his ear. He got instant pain relief, continued using the drops for several days, and the ear ache went away!

Peter Dotson had bronchitis that turned into pneumonia last fall, had done 2 rounds of antibiotics and was still not better. We gave him some propolis oil and he started taking 1/2 dropperful in a spoonful of honey 3 times a day, and symptoms abated within a few days!

Every one in our family has started using propolis orally when they feel like they are getting sick. We mix the oil in a spoonful of honey. Our asthmatic adult daughter and my asthmatic husband always end up with bronchitis and an asthma flare up when they get a cold and chest congestion. For the last year, they both start taking propolis orally, 3 times a day (about 1/2 a dropper full) when they start feeling under the weather. Neither one have had bronchitis, an asthma flare or pneumonia in a year.

Recent research I have read, found that taking propolis orally daily, improved breathing and lessened asthma flare-ups and the need for rescue inhalers in asthmatics.

While I was caring for my terminally ill mother last winter, I mixed propolis oil into the barrier cream they were using on her bedsores. It cleared up her skin overnight!

Laurie likes using the tincture and puts 1/2 dropperful in her coffee in the morning, as a dietary supplement/preventative. I started use the propolis oil as nose drops for the sinus congestion that keeps me coughing all night. But I found the oil took a long time to go down and was kind of strong, so I mixed up some saline and mixed the oil with that. Now I have propolis saline nose drops! They work great to break up congestion and stuffiness. I am also trying propolis oil on my years-long nail fungus. I have taken the dangerous, oral medication for this, twice over the years, and it keeps coming back. So, I’m trying propolis. I’ve read that nail fungus is difficult to eradicate and takes a while, so I’ll keep rubbing the oil on my nails and see if it eventually helps!

We have friends using propolis in all these ways as well. Some are using the oil as a rub for sore muscles and one person took some to her massage therapist to use for the massage. The therapist said it was the best stuff she’s used, and her hands felt great afterwards!!

All in all, the extended families of the Saums and the Dotsons and many friends have had the healthiest year in a very long time with fewer trips to the doctor; fewer colds, viruses, and infections; and quick clearing sores and blemishes. That AMAZING PROPOLIS has saved us a ton in medical bills! And it’s from God’s amazing creation!

(See previous blog Amazing Propolis for information, research, and other ways to use.)

Romans 11

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen

Psalms from the Hive

by Jeannie Saum

Clover, Bee, and Revery

Reverie (revery) –(n.) state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a fantastic, visionary, or impractical idea

During the second year of our beekeeping I started learning about the annoying sticky goo, propolis, we were scaping out of the hive and throwing away. Low and behold, it is an incredibly valuable hive product and has even more healing properties than honey! Here’s what I found:

All About Propolis

Propolis is an amazing substance made by honeybees, that has m

inside the hive

any health benefits for us.

Also called bee glue, propolis is made by the bees from tree resin. It is a stiff, sticky substance that they use in the hive to seal up cracks and also to disinfect. Propolis has been used for centuries by man, for its medicinal and health benefits. While not well know in this country, it is used widely throughout the world to treat illness and as a health supplement. In Europe it is referred to as “Russian Penicillin.”

propolis on top of frames

According to the National Institute of Health, propolis is proven to have antibiotic, antimicrobial, anitviral and antifungal properties. It also has antioxidant and has anti- inflammatory effects. Past and current research is showing the effectiveness of propolis in treating a wide variety of illnesses and conditions – from mild to serious. Research is currently being done on the use of propolis to treat cancer, mico-bacterial lung infections including TB, radiation treatment burns, GI issues, herpes, wound treatment and its effect on boosting the immune system.

raw propolis shavings

Propolis can be used raw, powdered, or in tinctures and infusions and is a valuable product to support healthy living. Our family and friends are using propolis oils and alcohol tinctures with success (and without trips to the doctor!) to assist in treatment of the following conditions:

Orally for:

colds, viruses

bronchitis, pneumonia

IBS

sore throats

a preventative supplement – keeping my asthmatic husband well over the winter months – no brochitis or pneumonia!

Job 5

8“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.10 He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[a]

18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.